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Frame damage

Although my Z8 has not experienced frame damage........yet! I would like to go ahead and install the kit. Does anyone know of an after market kit not supplied by BMW? If so please let's have the details. Any halfway decent mechanic can install the BMW kit and it sure doesn't look like $5000 worth of parts.

Wish me luck...

Originally Posted by macfly

Here are the offical English install instructions incase your dealer doesn't have them.

Thanks Macfly...wish me luck...I called my dealer about the PP and was told I had to order it through the parts department...did so...they called two days ago to say it was in and that I should make arrangements with Service to have it installed and they would transfer me...well after numerous phone snafus I hung up and called Service directly...explained that I had ordered the PP and that it was in and needed to make an appointment to have it installed...was told I will call you back about price...20 minutes later was told we have the part and it will cost about $90 for installation...I said, "I know you have the part. I ordered it and that is why I calleded for an appointment." He said, "Well mechanic says about 2 hours for install." I said, "Hmmm...I have the BMW Installatioin directions in front of me and it says 8.5 hours. Do you have a mechanic who really know what he is doing with a Z8?" Was assured they had a mechanic who could take one apart and put it back together again. 20 minutes late Dave (Service rep) calls and says his manager says it will take at least 13 hours! To which I replied that isn't what the official BMW Install directions say...it says 8.5 at most. He said he will call me back again. To his credit, in the mean time, he had found and downloaded the BMW Install directions for the PP...and admitted that he hadn't known anything about it but went through the install steps on the phone. I have hopes...I have an appointment for tomorrow now to have the PP installed. I warned him about the insulation clearance problem and that I would bring the print out of the discussion on the forum about insulation and PP clearance...so he is warned...I will let people know what the outcome is...gives me a lot of pause though...do know this is a good dealership and they will back up anything they do...but still makes me pause

P Package not Installed

My story...ordered the PP kit, downloaded the install instructions that Macfly provided, made an appointment, made sure the service people had the install instructions and a print out of various people's problems with insulation and room when installing the PP kit. The guys at the dealership were very cooperative and thankful that I had done my research. Left the car for installation with assurances that they would follow the install instructions.

About four hours later got a call from the dealership service coordinator asking me to come to the shop for a consult. They had everything taken apart and the PP kit in place with its initial bolts but had stopped there before drilling the holes for final installation. The PP kit bar was 3mm about the intake tubes (install instructions recommend 5mm). However when the hood was closed it would push the horizontal bar down to rest on the tubes and by looking through the head light opening we could see the PP kit brakets shift down. When closed slowly we could also see the whole hood up near the windshield bulge up noticeably. The forman of the service area, mechanic and I fiddled with it every way we could. It became obvious that when the brackets were drilled and bolted solid that the hood would bulge in the center right over the bracket unless the insulation was cut out to create room! The mechanics were leery to do that because of heat. They also pointed out that the engine would rise a little under good exeleration closing the limited space clearance and increasing the possible bulge in the hood.

After fiddling with it for over and hour I decided it was not worth the potential damage to the hood and insulationto have the PP kit installed. The dealer said we could send the PP kit back. I will have to pay for the labor but well spent to find out that I didn't want to create one problem to solve a potential one that hasn't appeared yet. The mechanics told me that they service 10 other Z8's there and haven't seen any frame distortion in any of them. So I'll take my chances. It seems that BMW's own fix it isn't a great fix it. I was pleased that the shop guys called to show me what was going on before proceeding. I wonder if there are differences among the cars since they are almost hand built and thus the differences among our experiences. Mine is a late 2002 model year build.

The only thing I can think is that maybe there is some kind of height/alignment adjustability at the hinges of the hood, because to the best of my knowledge this is the first report of a hood 'bending' over the PP. We have many very fastidious owners who I'm certain would have noticed any slight distortions like this, but my car is still up at Peter Pan awaiting a couple of parts from Germany, so I can't look at it to see what could be the difference/clearence issue with yours.

I would also venture to say that maybe the most important part of the PP isn't the strut bar, it is the two rings that sandwich/strengthen your shock tower domes. Even if you don't put in the brace I would certainly go ahead and add those two rings on each side, as they will help save the aluminum crowns from doming if you do have a bad pothole impact. Just my $0.02 worth.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

I remember back a few years ago that there was a recall to replace one faulty engine mount. Just wondering if your car didn't get this work done and it is slightly affecting the height of the engine? Is that possible?

I remember back a few years ago that there was a recall to replace one faulty engine mount. Just wondering if your car didn't get this work done and it is slightly affecting the height of the engine? Is that possible?

Engine mounts just fine...no problem there...actually no chassis or frame damage so far...hood fender seams are even from front to back...and shock covers level and unstressed...I was trying to install the PP as preventive maintenance...adjusting the hood hinges would raise or lower the hood at the top and make the seams out of alignment...I am just going to leave well enough alone for now...

I think I might have a field service tech look at your car to figure out what the issue is. Just for peace of mind.

As said above...everything is aligned perfectly now...shop manager measured the hood/fender seams and the are aligned...so I feel good about it...was just doing preventive maintenance based on pictures and reports here...seems like not necessary for now...

I hate to point this out, but you spent $500 to discover that nothing unfortunate has happened to your car as yet - but you didn't do anything to prevent this damage from happening later on today, or tomorrow.

If you don't fit in those rings, which I would advise at a minimum, then at least give yourself the protection of fitting the MPS2 tires which are now available for the stock rims.

By the way, I always meant to ask why did you pick a picture of Z8Bob's first car as your avatar?

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

Good suggestion on the tires...it was a quandry for me...sure didn't like the way the hood bowed or would bow when the PP would be made solid...didn't like the idea of cutting into the insulation so since there is no indication of chassis damage at this time...thought would leave it alone for now...

I just grabbed a picture of a Z8 with the color combination that I have since I don't have a good picture with that perspective in my portfolio...

As far as I know there is only one PP kit for the Z8...I paid $599 for my kit (returned and not installed - see previous posts)...others have paid the same...sounds like your dealer is jacking the price...would check with BMWUSA to get the correct price BEFORE they install and charge you...

If you look at the M5board and the M5 & M3 sections of Roadfly you will find a lot of negative reactions to BMW of Santa Monica. I have always stayed well clear of them myself too, even though I live pretty close. I suggest give Bob Smith's BMW over in Thousand Oaks a call, it is a nice drive over Topanga, and they have done good work at the right price on two other owner's cars here.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

PP installed at Shelly BMW

I bought the performance package for my car and had it powder coated silver, to match the color of the car. It was installed at Shelly BMW, in Buena Park, So Cal. I was very very happy with Shelly. The installation took the promised 8 hours and they treated me very well. The car was checked out by a BMW tech before the installation and all of the specifications were normal. The car looks perfect and seems to drive fine. I highly recommend Shelly to do this job for you. By the way, they were recommended by Wm Stuart, and I would take my car back to them at any time.

I agree with Andrew. I bought my 2002 Z8 from Bob Smith and they have been nothing less than honorable in taking care of little things. They did the PP exactly as instructed by BMW and the job was excellent. The service advisor with the PP experience is Paul Simms--818-444-3439.

Dinan response: Strut Tower brace

Here is the response from Dinan to my inquiry:

I read through the information that you sent over. It looks like this is a Strut Tower or Strut Tower type of brace. We currently do not make a brace for your car. The factory BMW kit is probably the way to go. If I can be of assistance please contact me at my office line below.

Took awhile but they did a great job

Just picked up my car from Holtz BMW in Rochester...pp installed with no issues...it did take longer than expected to get the parts , but once they received the kit they were prompt in scheduling/completing the work...cost was just north of $ 1800...too soon to tell re handling...unfortunately in Upstate NY there are no shortage of potholes to test the fix...so I am ready for spring and eager to get back to driving a great car with renewed confidence...

Hey Jim, I think before giving up on the idea...

Originally Posted by Silverfox02

Forgot...but that little adventure cost $500 in labor for the piece of mind...

I would consider ordering another kit. I personally think that there is considerable manufacturing variability in these strut bars. Here is why -- For example, I bought mine when they were first released to the US, about a day after Jurgen and the club announced it. At that time, there were only 3 listed in the USA total.

However, I did not install it until second week of January 2007. The car then sat at the dealer for 3-4 weeks because of a series of ice and snow storms here and I did not want to drive it with the bad road conditions for obvious reasons. The car sat with the hood closed. When I called them to tell them I was coming to pick it up, the battery had gone down and they needed to charge it. When I arrived, it was sitting hooked up to the charger, hood up. Immediately, I noticed an impression of the outline of hte hood padding on the top of the strut. I have only 3mm clearance at most between the bottom of the bar and the air intake hoses, which is within specifications. Viewing the closure, no buldging was present in the hood despite the obvious contact. The paint on the bar was actually imprinted with the pattern of the hood pad and was not something that would simply wipe off. The hood pad itself had no impression of the bar, however.

My Service manager immediately was apologetic and helpful and said he would not let me take the car (unless I wanted too) and he reordered another kit. We reinstalled the new strut bar only a week or so later, and no problem this time.

Point is, the bar you got could have a larger bend to it and if it did, would do what you are saying. I think the quality control on these bars was not typical of BMW as they "rushed" to get it out to appease the US Z8 owners due to threats of civil action and therefore, a different kit may have a better fitting bar that would be without contact, just like the paint on my second one, seems fine to date!

I for one would not take the chance without. Although your Florida roads are much better than what we have in Oklahoma, you still have to watch out for that occasional gator crossing and I know they are really hard on your car !
(lived in Florida for over 10 years).

Performance Package and purchase of z8

I know this is an old thread but I have recently joined this club a few months ago as I am about to purchase a z8. I thank so many of you who have responded to some prior posts of mine as you all have given me so much knowledge and information to assist me in purchasing this dream toy.
I am looking mainly at 2002/3 z8's so I have been told I do not have to worry about the vanos issue as that appears to have been a problem in 01 or earlier cars....
The only main concern appears to be verifying that there is no damage to the frame due to the this issue and then seeing if the performance package was installed, and, if not, I will have it installed - to prevent any possible future problems.
I live in Maryland.
Are any of you members in this area? and have you had this work done to your toy? if so, what dealer have your taken your z8 to to have this done?
Do any of you have a picture of your car with the fix?
I currently have a dinan s2 m5 which is serviced at Russell BMW but it does not appear that they have done one of these repairs as I had to tell them about this problem and help them understand what I was talking about when I was trying to get an estimate for this work.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Craig Zaller

Performance Pkg

Craig,
I had my Performance Package installed at Momentum BMW in Houston. They did a great job. They checked alignment before the installation to make sure it was OK and then did a nice job installing the bar and shock tower reinforcement plates.
If you are interested a Topaz Blue car, give me a call.

Performance Package

Thanks for the reply.
That is actually funny as one of the cars that is in my running is in Houston and it does not appear that they had the strut brace installed yet. If this is the car that I buy I will of course verify there is no frame damage etc... but since the car is already in Houston maybe I can get it to that dealer you used and have them install it before it is shipped to me.
Can you provide me the the address and number for the Momentum dealer?
Do you have a picture of your engine bay so that I can see the fix?
re: your car, I am sure it is very nice but I am set on silver with black interior.

ps: why are you selling it? I have another friend that may be interested. What is the mileage and what are you asking for it?

My car has 12,500 miles and has the performance pkg installed with
meistershaft exhausts, production book, and all covers and roof rack etc. No
accidents or stories.
The Topaz / Crema is a rare color and stunning in person with only 137 made.
Asking $127,000.

Mel Jacobs
Hm: 713-880-1212
Off: 713-840-4772
Cell: 713-254-1616

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

This does not necessarily pertain to this specific car but just FYI for anyone reading this in the future-it is possible to have frame damage and still have your car align properly. Thus being within spec is not a guarantee.